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Species Halictus ligatus - Ligated Furrow Bee

Bee - Halictus ligatus - female Bee - Halictus ligatus - female Bee - Halictus ligatus - female Which bee is this, please? - Halictus ligatus - female Small bee - Halictus ligatus - male bee or wasp? - Halictus ligatus - male Sweat bee - Halictidae - Halictus ligatus - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Halictidae (Sweat, Furrow, Nomiine, and Short-faced Bees)
Subfamily Halictinae (Sweat and Furrow Bees)
Tribe Halictini
Genus Halictus (Furrow Bees)
No Taxon (Subgenus Halictus sensu lato)
Species ligatus (Ligated Furrow Bee)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Known to be a species complex, likely to be split further in the future, even after the removal of H. poeyi. The most distinctive "cryptic" forms are Mexican.
Explanation of Names
Halictus (Odontalictus) ligatus Say 1837
Size
Female: Length 8-10 mm(1)
Male: Length 7-9 mm(1)
Identification
Well-defined basal hair bands, relatively broad apical hair bands; apparently robust head of female with a genal tooth; male antennae pale below; tegula pale.
Best separated from H. poeyi based on range OR DNA sequence data in areas of sympatry.


female genal tooth
Range
across NA from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico (Discover Life Map)(2)
Records from Florida and elsewhere on the southeastern coastal plain pertain to H. poeyi, a cryptic sister species of H. ligatus
Season
Most of the year. Most published records from mid-winter are of H. poeyi from Florida, now regarded as a distinct species
Food
Visits flowers from several families. The Hosts section on its Discover Life species page(2) lists known floral associations based on specimen records and images.
Remarks
Packer et al. (1998) determined H. poeyi and H. ligatus to be a separate species by differences in mitochondrial DNA.
Print References
Danforth, B. N., Mitchell, P. L., & Packer, L. (1998). Mitochondrial DNA differentiation between two cryptic Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 91(4), 387-391. (Full Text)
Key to western Halictus sp. found in(3)
Works Cited
1.Bees of the eastern United States
Mitchell T.B. 1962. Tech. Bull. (NC Agric. Exp. Sta.): No. 141 (538 pp.), 1960; and No. 152 (557 pp.).
2.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
3.Bees of northwestern America: Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)
R.B. Roberts. 1973. Oregon State U. Agric. Experiment Station, Technical bulletin 126: 1-23.